Manchester United send signed shirt to kidnap victim who got through captivity by listening to match commentaries
Shahbaz Taseer reveals tuning in to favourite football team's games kept him sane during his five years in captivity
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MANCHESTER UNITED have sent a signed shirt to the son of a murdered Pakistani governor who was kidnapped by Islamist insurgents.
Shahbaz Taseer revealed that listening to United matches kept him "sane" during his five years in captivity.
Taseer, who is in his early thirties, was captured by gunmen in Lahore in 2011 and only returned to his family in March.
His ordeal captured the public's imagination in a country that has been battling a homegrown insurgency for more than a decade.
Taseer described in chilling detail how he was flogged, shot and had his nails pulled out by Uzbek tormentors, but was able to cling on to sanity by following the progress of his favourite team via a radio that one of his guards, a fellow United fan, snuck into his cell.
"For me, it was a window to the outside world. Getting soccer news kept me sane," he said.
Taseer has tweeted a picture of himself wearing the famous red shirt, expressing his jubilation.
"OMG @ManUtd just sent me this!!!," he wrote. "I'm in shock! Thank you boys!"
His father Salmaan Taseer was governor of Punjab province and was shot dead by his own bodyguard for his opposition to the country's blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to target religious minorities.
The exact circumstances of Shabaz's release remain unclear. He told CNN and the BBC that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan wanted to use him for a prisoner swap.
Later, after he came into the custody of the Afghan Taliban, he said he was released with the help of a senior militant but did not explain why.
Earlier this year, Argentine football star Lionel Messi sent two jerseys to a five-year-old Afghan boy who became an internet sensation when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag with "Messi" scrawled on it in marker pen.